Tuelo Sings Her Heart Out With Second LP ‘Regarding My Heart’
Today, South African-born, NYC/Dublin-based folk-rock musician Tuelo shares her long-awaited poignant, defiant second studio album Regarding My Heart.
Alongside the full project, the artist shares “Some Kind of Love,” and its matching video–a sweetly optimistic tune that sees Tuelo come into herself and embrace self-love. With her most refined, self-assured sound to date, Regarding My Heart is a sweeping sonic exploration of love, loss and loneliness that allows Tuelo to cement her place in the folk-rock sphere.
In additional exciting news, Tuelo’s 2022 track “Hilda Hilda” off of her debut album The Life of Margaret Cornelius is being used in the film The Fisherman which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival and the film was awarded The Fellini Medal by UNESCO, 36th Enrico Fulchignoni Prize.
Tuelo’s long-awaited cinematic second full-length studio album, Regarding My Heart, brings together her humble beginnings with who she is today–filled with lush textures, dynamic sounds, layered strings, horns and guitars, soaring vocals and intimate lyricism. With its vivid storytelling and unbridled honesty, the project has provided Tuelo with the space to heal, listen to herself and center her voice. Tuelo says, “This album has been the way that I could explain a life I thought was over. It has been the way I could explain a love I thought could be the only one. I could be silent. After many years of fear as a migrant alone, I had a story to tell, and when it came to my heart I needed to remind myself that I am deserving of some kind of love.” Beginning with one central song and building from there, Tuelo crafted a resonant glimpse into her heart from different perspectives.
On her unique songwriting process that generates dozens of songs, Tuelo shares, “With ‘Regarding My Heart,’ I began to write over 70 songs that are called songs and shadows, which is a particular songwriting process I came up with of one core song followed by additional songs inspired by and answering back to this main song in different ways to include nuance in a journey.”
Tuelo says the album is, “by the lonely for the lonely. It’s about holding on to every ounce of peace, patience, pace, and the rhythm of the world.” Interspersed between the tracks are chant versions and towards the end, piano versions that offer alternate takes on the original versions while paying homage to Tuelo’s roots. Across three continents, the project’s expansive sound was brought to life with help from multi-GRAMMY® award-winning producer (Album of the Year, Best Rock Album) Robbie Nelson, guitar producer Kirk Schoenherr, longtime collaborator Kevin Wenzel and features backing vocals from Tuelo’s sisters.
The album’s latest single, “Some Kind of Love” is dedicated to self-love, aptly following the themes of the project as a whole. Committed to showing up as she is, Tuelo says, “To suffer love and to seek love is one of the greatest parts in life’s plot. This song is a vow to remember, to take care of oneself especially having been through a lot.” Sonically, it’s layered and lush, further incorporating her African roots, Tuelo says, “The song is filled with all the elements that make it beautiful–it’s excitable, upbeat with playful guitars, a traditional Tswana song played in 6/8 and with chants, and yet still very folk rock. I usually say folk recognize folk anywhere in the world. Like opera there is always a tragedy–I think with folk music there is a stamp of where you come from and a motivating factor to move on. The whole record is a chapter taking twists and turns in the psalm of Tuelo. I always feel like in my world, I have to come as I am. It’s a lot, but I come in peace.”
The track’s accompanying video, designed to display a painting that comes alive, is directed by frequent collaborator Kevin Wenzel and swiftly complements the track’s message with a serene atmosphere, as if to take care and intentional time with one’s self. Wenzel adds, “Sonically, there are a lot of elements that cascade and intertwine, so we wanted to keep the video simple and not distracting away from the music. Everyone has such a unique journey through love and learning to love oneself that we wanted to give people the opportunity to explore that within themselves while watching the video. To just take a moment to listen and to think.”
Under The Radar, who debuted the previously shared, striking “Bitter Weeping,” wrote the track, “is a resonant folk rock strummer, centering on impassioned melodies and confessional lyricism. Tuelo drives the track forward with insistent acoustic chords and anthemic rock guitar lines, but the standout moments come from her plaintive and powerful vocal performance. She moves effortlessly between spoken-word pleas and ascendant, wailing high notes burnished by gospel harmonies. Meanwhile, her lyrics offer a moving portrait of loving someone unable to love themself: “Come back down/You are better than what you’ve been thinking/Forget all the brain-bending things/To suggest you’re imperfect, you’re so complete.”
Written in Belgium in 2018, Tuelo’s June release “Green Light” poured out of the artist as she began to reckon with major life changes, relationships evolving or ending, and the pace at which life moves today, aiming to calm her mind in any way she could. Released in March, the title track encompasses a life in its entirety–the love, loss and lessons learned. It was the making of this song that ultimately served as the catalyst for the making of the album.
With distinct, sharp vocals and a genre-bending, singular sonic approach, Tuelo has established herself while carving a space in music all her own. Tuelo’s debut album, The Life of Margaret Cornelius, arrived in 2022 and was praised by several leading tastemakers like NPR and The Recording Academy. Describing Tuelo’s music with an exclusive performance on their segment Positive Vibes Only, the Academy shared, “Infectious drums, powerfully stacked vocals and guitars that rip through the song are all common practice for the uncommon experience that is listening to Tuelo.” In support of the release of her 2017 EP Saint Margaret, The Huffington Post called Tuelo, “New York’s best singer (and the world’s)” and said, “Sometimes a singer just comes out of nowhere and makes you question everything you ever listened to before. When you finally hear it, you know.” Consequence praised the EP’s intimate title track, stating, “The track [‘Saint Margaret’] is a warm and simple bit of revival folk. Tuelo sings her mother’s praises over slow guitars and a gentle synth..” Tuelo’s striking vocals caught the attention of AFROPUNK who called the musician’s performances, “an inspiring and spiritual experience carried by the singer’s powerhouse vocals.”
Tuelo was raised in rural South Africa in a large family and a close-knit community amid the tumultuous political landscape of apartheid. It was this environment that directly informs her artistry today, as family and activism remain at the heart of her work. At age 17, Tuelo moved to New York City where she worked as a vocalist, making appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, back-up vocals for Paul Simon and GRAMMY® award-winning albums including Angelique Kidjo‘s Eve and Sings. Now, continually inspired by traditional African music, the art-driven, spiritual and political singer-songwriter offers her own blend of folk-rock that both honors her past and paves the way for her future.
Photo credit: Kevin Wenzel